PAN
by tweetNbirdy
Summary: In these pages lie a forgotton story, a tale of a boy who could fly, a young girl, and a man who's hand will only exist until the next adventure. Remember, this story is forgotton, so it is not what it seems.
1. The Beginning

**Pan**

By Birdy

Based on the story _Peter Pan _by J.M. Barrie

* * *

**Chapter 1**

There always has been one child who has never grown up and never will grow up -- or at least there is only one at a _time_. There has been on occasion a time when the child must grow up, leaving the job to someone else.

In fact, this has only happened once. There has been one such boy who had to grow up.

Most children know about Peter Pan, the boy who will never grow up, but not many people know about _Pan_. This Pan is not the Peter you know, but is really Philip Arthur Nord. Since he thought his name was dull he only allows anyone to call him Pan. Sometimes he did not even remember his real name.

Now, Pan was also a boy who would never grow up, but he was alive before Peter ever came into the picture. He lived on an island created by the dreams of children. There was a lagoon with mermaids and a rock pirates would tie prisoners too. There were Indians always silently hunting down the fearsome pirates led by their captain Blackbeard. There was a gorgeous jungle and a tall mountain. The best part of all was that there were adventures packed in so tightly that not a day could go by before you experienced dozens of them. The island was known as Neverland.

Pan lived on Neverland playing with the fairies and wild animals. When he found as many adventures as he could stand that were on the island, he would take to the sky and fly with all the happy thoughts he possessed. He'd jump on the clouds and play tricks on the stars. He'd fly rings around the sun because he knew it was so slow that it could never catch him.

His laughter could be heard for miles on a bright sunny day and Pan was always seen with a smug grin for he was proud of everything he did. He was the boy that would never grow up, or at least that is what everyone thought.

The island was a place created from the imagination and dreams of children around the world. What would happen if they stopped dreaming? The island would become a very sad place.

There was a time, although not for more than a few years, when children forgot to dream and imagine. They were obsessed with being grown up and grown ups have no time for that sort of nonsense.

Without the hearts of children to support Neverland, everything began to go wrong, but Pan never saw what would happen for another few years.

When the obsession with adulthood had begun, Pan had been on a trip to visit a city. He had been bored with his island and decided to go chimney hopping (one must jump from one chimney to another without falling in, it can be quite difficult). Pan was enjoying himself so much that he completely missed a rope thrown into the air at him until it had begun to pull him towards an open window.

Ha! He thought, this will be a synch to escape from. Normally, this would be the case, but he suddenly found he had not the strength to fight the pull. While children still dreamt of him and his island, nothing could beat him, but remember that since children had begun to forget about dreams and such, he was loosing his strength.

This does not mean he could not move, of course. Pan fought like a wild cat to break free, but at each second he became closer and closer and closer until he found himself on the edge of the windowsill.

Inside, he immediately saw a young man staring at him and holding the end of the rope.

"Are you Pan?" The young man asked, his intentions were still unclear to Pan at this point, but of course the young man knew. Henry Oswald Oscar King was 20 years old and determined to catch the boy who could never grow up.

Henry grew up an orphan, he sadly had no mother or father, so he had to grow up very quickly to take care of himself. He never dreamed of adventures or any type of thought a normal child would. When the other children would talk about an island called Neverland, he would listen very closely, but never really cared about it. At least until he heard about a little boy who lived there.

When Henry found out that this boy, Pan, would never grow up, he became very jealous. There was that boy having an endless childhood while he, Henry, had simply skipped over it! With this thought always pounding into his head, he decided that if he had no childhood, neither would Pan.

For years he waited for a chance to capture his enemy, but the chance never came around until he looked out his window to see a young boy chimney hopping. He knew of no other little boys who could fly, so he immediately knew that it was Pan. He grabbed a rope and made it into a lasso to pull him in.

The two stared at each other while Pan answered Henry's question: "Are you Pan?"

"Yes" Pan said. "And you must release me."

Henry was startled to hear this so quickly after meeting Pan that he did not respond immediately. He did recover his senses soon though and a cruel grin spread across his face.

"Never, Pan." While this was his answer to Pan's question, Henry also meant this as a reply to Pan growing up. Before Pan could fight back, Henry grabbed a blunt object and used it to knock the adventurous boy unconscious.

---------------

When Pan came to, he discovered his hands and feet were tied and he was sitting in a metal cage without any weapons. He was helpless and upset, so he began to cry.

"Why are you crying little boy?" Pan heard a girl's voice say. When he lifted his head, he found a curious pair of eyes staring intently at him. These eyes belonged to a 10 year old girl. She had curly brown hair that she had pulled back with a light pink ribbon. She sat very calmly on the floor in front of him.

Before he even opened his mouth to answer, the girl asked another question. "Who are you?"

This time, Pan knew what was going on and was able to answer immediately.

"I am Philip Arthur Nord." He said with pride. It was at times like these when he was able to remember his full name. When the girl realized he wasn't going to ask her of her own name, she supplied it herself.

"I'm Mary King. It's nice to meet you." She said politely and stood up to give a small curtsey.

"Is that all?" was all Pan had to say.

"Yes." Mary replied, not really offended, she did not get offended very easily. She liked her name. "And do you not have something shorter? I am not sure I can remember all of that, Philip Ar..art…um…"

Philip Arthur Nord interrupted her. "You can call me Pan."

Mary smiled happily since Pan was much easier to remember. "Alright Pan!" She said, testing his nickname. Suddenly her face became one of surprise, shock, and maybe awe. A thought had suddenly sprung into her head.

"Do you mean Pan as in 'The Boy Who Will Never Grow Up'? Are you saying you are _the Pan_?" Mary hurriedly asked. Pan's face glowed with pride. He was famous!

"Of course!" was all he could say and crowed in his joy as it was something he normally did when he was happy.

His crowing was very loud and quickly brought a certain young man into the windowless room the two children were in. The two of them jumped when he suddenly walked into the room and slammed the door. Pan knocked his head on the top of his cage when he jumped in shock, for it was not very large.

Henry took one glance and understood the situation immediately.

"Mary!" He practically roared at the girl. "I thought I told you not to go into this room. Leave at once!" Adults are very good at yelling and getting others to listen to them, so it is not unexpected that Mary stood up right after he said that.

"Of course, father" she said and hurried like a little lady out of the room with one last glance at Pan. He was crouched like a lioness hunting her prey, but inside of a cage and without claws or weapons. Frankly, Henry was not impressed at all.

"The 'boy who is forever a child' has woken up I see." He sneered at the boy in the cage. "Are you going to try and kill me? Try all you want, you will never escape that cage. I have caught you and you will remain there forever." Henry grinned cruelly at Pan. "The great Pan who can fight, fly, and is the great slayer of pirates, has been caught. How does it feel? No one will ever rescue you." He laughed, finding pleasure in taunting his helpless prey.

"I don't need to be rescued!" Pan indignantly argued, "I can rescue myself!"

"Then why have you not escaped from that cage yet?" Henry replied. "If you are so wonderful then why not escape and let us hear you crow once more!" He knew that no matter what his prisoner tried, he would not escape. Henry had complete power and was lavishing in the feeling.

"You will never escape Pan, never! You will stay here and suffer the worst fate you can imagine."

"I do not fear death, it is but another adventure!" Pan prepared himself for the stab of a sword or the bullet of a gun, but the pain never came. When he looked up at the man's eyes, he saw cruelty and all things to make him shake in fear. Indeed, Pan did have a reason to fear.

"Death? That is but a mere trifle. I would not subject that to you. Oh no, I have something much worse." Henry came right up to the bars of the cage and whispered into Pan's ear, "You will live in this cage forever. I will make you _grow up._"

Laughing evilly, Henry stood up and glided out of the room, feeling quite joyful. Pan on the other hand, froze for a moment, curled up into a ball, and began to cry.

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Author's note:

This story I started writing around the begininng of Nov. 2006 after finally watching the 2003 Peter Pan movie. I actually wrote the first three chapters in one go, but I have not written anymore since. I just don't have the time, but I fully intend to finish it eventually. It may be months before chapters 4+ are up, but I want everyone to enjoy the chapters I do have available. I hope you enjoy reading it!


	2. The Key

**Pan**

By Birdy

Based on the story _Peter Pan _by J.M. Barrie

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Pan eventually cried himself to sleep, but it was not restful. He tossed and turned as nightmares filled his little head, eventually waking him up. Once awake, he did notice that someone had lit a candle for him. It was placed outside his cage and a blanket covered his body or would have if he had not moved it off in his restless sleep. He soon discovered that the person who had put it there was none other than the little girl lying asleep on the floor beside the candle.

Perhaps it was the candle light or seeing Mary once more, but Pan began to feel a little better. Perhaps he would find a way to escape after all, he hoped.

Mary was a very light sleeper. She wakes up at the slightest noise, so she normally covers her ears when she goes to sleep in her bedroom, but she was not in her bedroom so she did not remember to cover her ears. In the little room that confined Pan, she heard him tossing and turning all night and therefore was never asleep. Once she realized that Pan was awake, she slowly sat up and greeted him.

"Hello Pan." She whispered, it would not be good for her father to know that she was visiting Pan. Pan rubbed his eyes, he was still tired. It was the middle of the night after all.

"Hello Mary." He said, but refused to say anything else after that._ Her_ dad kept him locked up. He should not have to talk to her at all, nor did he want to. Still, this did not stop Mary from talking to him.

"I'm sorry about what happened Pan." She whispered. "I am still not really sure what is going on, but my father does not really like you I think. I don't know how he would know about you, he says he never dreamed or pretended to be anything at all as a child. It was almost like he never has a childhood. He actually says he skipped from being a toddler to a grown up. I think he is probably joking." Mary said.

Pan had been listening with one ear, although he was not talking to her, it did not mean he was not listening. 'I can believe that' he thought, remarking on Mary's comment about her father skipping childhood.

"I do not know what he has against you, but he acts like he's been waiting to capture you his whole life!" Mary whispered energetically. This comment really caught Pan's interest. Mary made her father sound like an arch nemesis to Pan and that Pan's captivity is just another adventure that he had never gone on before. He finally felt energized and ready to fight back. If only he had a sword and could get out of the cage.

"Hey!" He said and was hushed by Mary. He had been too loud and Mary feared that her father heard him. They held their breaths for a minute, but they heard no footsteps coming towards them down the hall. They sighed in relief before Pan continued.

"Can you get me out of this cage?" He whispered excitedly to Mary. She looked startled at first, but the expression turned to pity.

"I'm sorry, Pan, but I can't. The key to the cage is one of a kind and my father has not let go of it since he caught you. I will try to grab it when I have a chance, but I don't know when that will be." She held his hand to comfort him. "I'm sorry, I really am, but my father is quite frightening. I do not even think he even cares about me."

"Of course he wouldn't! He's a grown up, they don't care about kids!" Peter said, sounding intelligent.

"What a horrible thing to say!" Mary scolded Pan. "He only doesn't care about me because I am not his real child. He adopted me." Mary gave Pan the cold shoulder by turning around and facing the opposite wall in a huff. Pan could tell he had upset her and knew how to make her feel better.

"You know, girls really are wonderful things." He charmingly said. "They are so understanding and do many wonderful things." He could tell Mary was listening closely because she had begun to relax and turn around.

"Do you really think so, Pan?"

"Of course!" He said.

"You really a sweet boy! I will forgive you for saying that horrible thing about adults," She paused for a second. She had come up with an interesting idea. "but only if you tell me stories about your adventures!"

"On Neverland?" He asked, happy she was interested.

"Yes! And not just Neverland, anywhere you've been! Father never lets me listen to stories or adventures, he wants me to be grown up too and they don't do that sort of thing. Will you tell me? Please Pan?" Mary inched closer to the cage to listen better.

Pan grinned and would have crowed in happiness not only because he knew more about adventures than her, but because it was a way of defying his nemesis, Henry.

Pan began by telling her about the lagoon and the mermaids who will pull you in if you get to close. Once a mermaid fell in love with him and so she kept giving him presents from the sea, but mermaids do not stay in love for too long, so that eventually ended.

He then continued to tell her about how a lost pirate fell into a trap he had set up. His foot stepped into a loop of a rope and was hoisted upside down above everyone's heads to be laughed at. He eventually broke free and there was a simply splendid battle, but Peter did not tell Mary how it ended for it was morning and Mary needed to return to her room. Her father must not ever find out about the visit.

Inspired by Peter's stories, Mary became more determined than ever to get the key from her father. The first day she simply watched where he kept it. She could not find the key in his room, but when he returned home from work, she noticed a silver chain around his neck. When she asked him what it was for during their dinner, he became very defensive and sent her to her room before she finished eating.

Mary decided later that night, after discussing the event with Pan, that the key must be on the chain. For her valiant effort, Pan rewarded her with the end of the tale: the pirate was seriously injured, but had managed to escape. They do not know if he survived or not. On completion of that adventure, Pan began telling Mary about how he first learned to fly.

"I had bumped into a fairy and dust fell on me. I thought nothing of it at first, but one day when I was thinking the most wonderful thoughts, I began to fly!" To prove it, he floated a little in his cage, although he bumped his head because it was so small.

Wendy snuck back to her room later that night with thoughts of flying and pirates. She could not wait for the next day. She wanted to get the key badly, Pan promised to teach her to fly once he was freed.

All day she planned different ways to get the key without her father knowing, but in the end was unable to succeed. That night she snuck to Pan's cage and listened to his stories. Everyday Mary would think up a new plan and fail. Every night Pan would tell her new and wonderful stories. Once his stories ran out, Mary had so many new ideas flooding her head that she made up some adventures of her own to tell Pan. While they both enjoyed this greatly, the key was their main goal, so Mary tried very hard every day to steal it.

* * *

Author's Note:

There is one more chapter I have written, which I will post next friday (dec.15). I also hope that everyone has realized that Mary and Pan are not Wendy and Peter. I would so dearly hate for someone to get mixed up! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, so please tell me what you think. I tried to write this story in the same style of Barrie so it would be closer to how it would actually be if _he_ had wrote it.

By the way, has anyone figured out yet that there is only one OC in this story? Which one it is, I will leave that for you to figure out!


End file.
